Authors: Ribbon of Rain
Chapter1 (26 page)
Jude nodded.
“It’s one of ours.”
Jude sat forward on the edge of his chair, almost tipping it over.
“What?
Are you serious?
How could that be?”
“It’s one of several that went missing from our inventory and can’t be accounted for.”
“That explains Brian’s last words,” Cody murmured.
At Frank’s puzzled look, Jude explained.
“I asked
The man honestly believed he was working for the FBI.
There’s a rotten apple in the Bureau, Frank.”
“Looks that way.”
Frank eyes were troubled.
“I’ve been going over a list of agents since I found out about the phones.
I’m coming up empty.”
Jude reached for his cup with unsteady fingers.
“I’ve been thinking about it, too.
What about Dave Perkins?”
Frank’s forehead furrowed, and he shook his head.
“He’s a kiss ass, but it never occurred to me that he might be a traitor.”
His eyes widened.
“Wait a minute.
Pieces are falling into place.
Originally, I’d made plans to send Simmons on this assignment because he’s a wilderness freak, a regular Grizzly Adams.
Perkins convinced me to send you.”
“Me?
Why me?
And why would you listen to anything he had to say about me?”
Frank cleared his throat, loosening his tie.
“Perkins told me you’d developed an attitude problem.
Said you were getting stale, not concentrating on the job.
He suggested a change of scenery would be good for you and ultimately for the Bureau.”
“An attitude?
Me?
He’s the one with the fucking attitude.
He seldom showed up at work for the past month.
Said he was having personal problems at home.”
Cody interrupted.
“So this Dave wanted Jude at
Jude clenched his teeth.
“Gee, thanks, Cody.
Great vote of confidence.”
“It’s starting to make sense.”
Frank’s sour mood had brightened.
“I’ll call the Bureau and tell them to keep Perkins under wraps until we get back.”
Jude fidgeted in his chair while Frank put through the call.
“Hogan?
It’s Frank.
Is Perkins there?
No, I don’t want to speak with him.
I want you to make damn sure he stays put until I get back.
I’ll be there sometime this afternoon.
I don’t care how you do it, damn it.
Tell him I’ve got an important assignment for him.
Don’t tell him where I am.
Another thing.
I want some information on him.
How many days he’s missed work in the past year.
Check his credit cards, business and personal.
I want to know everything he’s charged and everywhere he’s traveled for the last three months.”
Frank put his phone away and stood.
“Let’s go.”
In his haste to leave Jude stepped back landing on Red’s foot.
The dog yelped.
Jesus, he’d forgotten Red.
“Frank.
We have to take the dog.”
Frank looked down at Red, who stared back at him with his soulful eyes.
“I don’t think…”
“It’s Kat’s dog.
We can’t just leave him here.”
“We’ll drop him off at a shelter somewhere.”
Frank dismissed the matter.
“No, Frank, he’s staying with me until we find Kat.”
Cody laughed.
“You’d better listen to him Frank.
If it weren’t for Red, Jude would still be wandering around in the woods right now.”
Frank opened his mouth to argue, but caved at Jude’s frown.
“Fine.
Whatever.
Bring the dog.”
“Hear that Red?
Let’s go find Kat.”
Red took off, opened the screen door with his nose and ran to the end of the wharf.
He looked back at the three men coming behind him and jumped in the plane.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Frank murmured.
Chapter 13
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk rapidly gathered speed as it taxied across the choppy water.
Jude and Cody sat in the two back seats.
Red was on the floor, his head resting on Jude’s thigh.
“Are we flying all the way to
Cody’s comment jarred Jude from his worries about Kat.
He looked at the other man and laughed.
Cody’s hands clenched the sides of the seat.
His forehead was covered with beads of sweat.
“What’s so damn funny?”
“You’re pale.
Need a barf bag?”
Up front, the other two men snickered.
“Very funny, Callahan.
I’ve got an aversion to small planes.”
“There’s a Lear jet waiting for us in
“This will be a short flight.”
“This plane equipped with wheels, as well as the pontoons?”
“Be hard to land at an airport if it didn’t have wheels.
Hang on,” the pilot warned.
“Here we go.”
The plane lifted, banking along the shoreline before heading toward the mountains.
Cody’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Jude opened his mouth to rib him again, but made the mistake of looking out the window.
The plane flew low and quickly gained on the mountains.
“Jesus Christ, Munson.
Pull up the damn plane.”
“Amen,” Cody whispered.
“Relax.”
Frank turned around.
“Agent Munson’s been flying for years.
Neither Jude nor Cody took another breath until the Cessna cleared the top of the mountains and gained altitude.
“Do either of you have any ideas where to start looking for Kat Tenney?”
“I say
“Why
“The night we explored the border we overheard the guards say they were pulling out and going to
Jude leaned forward as far as his seatbelt allowed.
“Call Washington, Frank.
We need a list of every property owned by Carl Winter.”
Snapping open his cell phone Frank dialed the number.
“Hogan, it’s me again.
I need information as soon as possible.
Compile a list of all properties owned by Carl Winter.
While you’re at it, check to see if Perkins owns any property other than his house.”
Frank paused.
“No, I don’t want it tomorrow.
I want it this afternoon.
By four o’clock to be precise.
Where’s Perkins?
Well, let him holler.
Keep him confined to one room, and don’t let him make any phone calls.
See you at four.”
Frank ended the call and looked over his shoulder.
“They’re on it.”
“What’s with Dave Perkins?”
Agent Munson asked.
“I’ll fill you in later.”
Frank answered.
Why was Frank withholding information from Munson?
Trust no one?
Jude settled back in his seat and gazed out the window at the vast wilderness below.
Nothing but coniferous forests, with splashes of blue lakes and long snaking rivers.
Red whined, and Jude reassured him with a pat on the head.
The dog had his own ideas of comfort and climbed on Jude’s lap.
By the time he settled into a comfortable position, Jude had his shoulders and head, and Cody ended up with the other half.
“Sorry,” Jude muttered.
Cody grunted.
“The dog better not fart.”
The plane landed in
Before boarding the Agency’s Leer jet, everyone bought something to eat.
Settling in for the flight, Jude opened the wrapper of his breakfast sandwich.
Red’s tail thumped hard enough to put a hole in the floor of the jet.
Man, he’d known from day one that tail was dangerous.
“Did you feed Red today?”
he asked Cody.
“Nope.
Thought you did.”
Jude looked at his sandwich and then at Red, sitting there with drool dripping from his chin.
“I’ll share, but that’s it.”
He tossed the dog half of the sandwich.
Red caught it in mid-air and swallowed it whole.
Jude turned away from the dog and ate the other half.
Once his hunger was satisfied, Jude leaned back on the headrest and surrounded himself with memories of Kat and their last night together.
He imagined her warmth cuddling into his body, and the funny little noises she made in the back of her throat when she climaxed.
He wanted to share Cody’s optimism that Kat could take care of herself.
But the soft, petite woman he’d held in his arms was a world apart from the rough self-sufficient soldier that Cody knew.
The jet’s brakes screeched as they landed in
Jude woke and glanced over at Cody, trying not to smile.
This leg of the trip, Cody had ended up with the entire dog.
*****
“Time to wake up, sweetheart.”
The suave voice penetrated Kat’s consciousness.
She struggled to open her eyes, squinting as bright light flooded her vision.
The world tilted and spun.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“Where am I?”
Was that weak muffled voice hers?
“Come on.
Open your eyes,” the smooth voice coaxed.
“You and I have a lot to discuss.”
A familiar smell assaulted her nose.
Strong cologne.
Where had she smelled it before?
Brain-fuzzy, Kat tried to remember.
The leaden feeling in her arms and legs scared her.
Was she paralyzed?
After one attempt to lift her arm, she felt certain that was the case.
The fog in her head lifted slowly, and memories of her abduction returned.
That bastard Carl Winter had kidnapped her.
Hands roughly began massaging her legs and she flinched at the pain.
The fact she felt pain meant she wasn’t paralyzed.
That knowledge gave her courage to open her eyes.
“I knew you could do it.”
Carl’s devious smile was the first thing she saw.
“I’m afraid I gave you too much tranquilizer.
You’ve been out for a long time.”
“Where am I?”
Kat asked again trying to sit up.
She couldn’t move.
“You’re with me.
The location is inconsequential.
Stop struggling.
You’re tied to the bed.”
Kat stilled and looked down at her body.
Hospital restraints held her to the bed.
She realized any words out of her mouth could be hazardous to her health, so she stayed silent.
“If you give me your word to behave, I’ll let you up and send someone to help you shower and change.”
The slime sat on the edge of the bed.
“You must be hungry.”
Kat squelched her desire to tell him exactly what she felt.
If she wanted to plan an escape, she needed to be loose.
Keeping her eyes downcast, she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
He grabbed her chin and forced her head up, giving her no choice but to look into the eyes of the devil.
If a person didn’t know the evil lurking beneath the surface, they’d find him to be a sophisticated, handsome man.
Underneath the thin veneer was a man with no conscience, a man who’d kill to achieve his goals.
“Are you willing to cooperate?
You’ll find I’m an extremely generous man when I get my way.
Cross me, and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
The threat hung in the air.
